Christmas is Coming

Christmas is coming quickly... just a little over two months away. I truly love this time of year… football, fall, yummy food, cooler weather, snuggly scarves, and of course, the holidays.

My ankle was hurting to the point where I couldn’t walk well this morning, so we stayed home from church. I was reading in Luke with my boy, and we started in chapter 1.

Reading about how the baby, who would become John the Baptist, Elizabeth was pregnant with jumped for joy when hearing Mary call out to her brought tears to my eyes. Even the unborn child recognized the mother of Jesus Christ and knew the significance of His birth.

Jesus was born perfect, as the Son of God, to a virgin. He lived a perfect life, and died a terrible death so that we, humans – sinners – could live eternally with Him in Heaven.

Christmas is celebrated in December, but no one truly knows the time of year Jesus was born. There are a few hints, but nothing significant in the Bible. And technically, many of our current Christmas traditions come from pagan solstice festivals. However, Christians after Constantine changed and Christianized pagan traditions to become their own version of the holiday.

Today though, Christmas is all about commercialism. Stores begin carrying Christmas items in August. There are “Christmas in July” sales, Black Friday sales, spend more, spend more, spend more.

Frankly, it is exhausting.

We have our own traditions in our home. I put up our tree in early November so we can enjoy it more. I play Christmas music like there is no tomorrow. We have Snow, the mischievous elf who appears on Thanksgiving night and hangs out until Christmas Eve when Santa takes him back to the North Pole. My son still believes in Santa, which I love, because it makes Christmas a little more magical. I cook Christmas Dinner and invite other single friends over so they have somewhere to go. I volunteer at NORAD Tracks Santa and talk to kids all over the world. We always pick Angels off of the Angel Tree at church – a boy the age of my son and a teenage girl for me – to purchase gifts for. We participate in Operation Christmas Child.

My boy is finally old enough to truly learn about giving to others less fortunate. I found a great idea last year that we will do this year. Random Acts of Kindness to do every day during December. I love it. I’m excited about it and will probably do something to add my boy’s teachers in as well.

My point in the rambling is this – Christmas is fun for kids, and it should be magical as well. They need that little bit of mystery in their lives to make them curious and excited about living. They also need to know Jesus – who He was, who He is now and who He will be eternally. Kids (and some adults) need to understand the reason for Christmas is not the ‘Dudley’ version of how many gifts do I get. It is about giving to others, some in true need, and some just because.

Don't forget the real reason we celebrate Christmas - it is the Birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.